Harriet Tubman Learn English through story level 3
harriet tubman the slave who escaped
and helped hundreds of other slaves to
escape
[Music]
i escaped from slavery in the south
of the usa i then
helped hundreds of other slaves to
escape to the north of the usa
and canada i also freed hundreds of
slaves
who wanted to fight in the civil war
my parents were slaves for the brodess
family
in maryland usa i was the fifth
of nine children at the age of six
i started work as a nurse maid for
another family
after that i had to work in the woods
and fields
our owners did not think of us as people
for them we were like animals or
machines
if we did something wrong they hid us or
punished us
in horrible ways
in 1831 at the age of 11
i started to do the same work as the
adult slaves
every day we had to work for many hours
in the fields
around this time i received an injury
which i never forgot i refused
to stop a slave who was escaping
the slave’s owner threw a metal weight
at the slave
but it hit me on the head it hurt a lot
and this injury gave me headaches for
the rest of my life
in 1849 i was brave and tried to escape
i was married by then but my marriage
was very
unhappy and i hated the thought of
another year
of slavery two of my brothers agreed to
come with me
we wanted to reach the north of the usa
where slavery was illegal i could live
there as a free woman
we made good progress towards the north
but then we heard some bad news
our owner was offering 300
to anyone who caught us
my brothers became frightened and we
decided to return to maryland
we were punished when we returned but i
still
wanted to escape
a short time later i escaped again
this time i went alone i traveled at
night
along quiet roads and paths
some kind people helped me on the way
they gave me food and a place to sleep
finally i arrived in the city of
philadelphia in the north
the journey was long and difficult but
it felt
wonderful to be free at last
in philadelphia i got a job and began to
earn money
i missed my parents and my brothers and
sisters
i was free and i wanted my family to be
free too
maybe i could help them to escape
in 1850 i received some bad
news my niece and her daughters were in
danger
their owner wanted to sell them and they
didn’t want to go to different families
i decided to return to maryland to free
them
i had to help them to escape we traveled
at night
and used the stars to find our way to
the north
after helping my niece and her daughters
i helped many other slaves to escape
i offered to help my husband john tubman
too
but he didn’t want to leave the south
he didn’t want to be with me anymore so
our marriage
ended
[Music]
soon a new law made things a lot more
difficult for me
it became illegal to help a slave to
escape in the usa
i had to find a new route to canada
where slavery was illegal
in 1857 i went on a very special journey
to help my parents
they weren’t slaves anymore but their
life in the south was very difficult
they were very happy to see me again and
wanted to go with me to canada
our journey was very slow and difficult
because my parents were old
we had a big celebration when we finally
arrived in ontario canada
[Applause]
in 1861 the american civil war started
the confederates from the south wanted
slavery
to continue the unionists from the north
wanted slavery to become illegal
i joined the union army which fought for
the north
an army captain james montgomery heard
about me
he discovered that i helped slaves to
escape
before the war and he wanted my help
he wanted slaves to fight for freedom in
the union army
i took a team of spies to the south and
found
slaves who wanted to join us
it was dangerous work but we were very
successful
on one trip 700 slaves agreed to escape
and they became soldiers
on the 9th of april 1865
the war ended what could i
do with my life now
i decided to fight for equal rights for
black people
and for women
i spoke at public meetings and i tried
to help black
people who were poor and old
in 1896 i bought some land
and in 1903 i gave the land to my church
i wanted the church to start a home for
black people who were poor
and elderly in 1908
the home opened for the first time
as i looked back at my life i was very
proud
i was happy that i helped so many people
to fight